An unprecedented incursion of snowy owls, powerful and awe-inspiring birds, is continuing as you read this. For the third week in a row, this author cannot stop writing about this historic event, which has never happened on this scale before and is, in fact, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. The species has been reported from beaches all over the Cape and Islands.

In Atlantic Canada, expert birder and researcher Bruce Mactavish reports an astounding 304 individual snowy owls on the Avalon Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland on Dec. 7 and 8. This staggering number of snowy owls is unheard of anywhere on the planet. This irruption is breaking all records. Mr. Mactavish queried Arctic researchers attempting to explain this mass of birds and where they may have come from.

Apparently the snowy owls in Greenland and in most of the Canadian Arctic did not have a good year for breeding. However, in northern Quebec, small rodents called lemmings had a banner year, as did the many snowy owls that came from far and wide to breed there and take advantage of the food bonanza. The many that nested fledged prodigious numbers of owlets.

With all the young birds in the mix and the onset of winter bringing a scarcity of food and an abundance of territorial bird behavior, there was little choice for the owls but to head south to find food and survive the winter months. Their numbers are continuing to increase, and they are being reported from farther south weekly. Who knows how long this push will last, but while they are here enjoy and respect them.

The Cape and Islands are loaded, and despite rather nasty weather this past weekend, the Outer Cape Christmas Bird Count recorded 13 snowy owls, which was almost double the previous high in this count's long 82-year history; meanwhile, the Newport, R.I./Westport, Mass., Christmas Bird Count recorded 12 snowy owls, the highest total ever recorded in the 65 years that this count has been conducted.

The Buzzards Bay Christmas Bird Count was held on Dec. 14, and while spotters saw a few interesting birds, it was the lowest total number of species seen in a long while coming in at 112 species. The low counts have everything to do with the weather conditions, not the state of the bird populations.

The Outer Cape Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 15 was similar, but the aforementioned snowy owl total crushed all previous numbers in this count's history, and a rufous hummingbird was recorded that has been coming to a feeder in Brewster for some time. The total number of species recorded came in at 114, which is the lowest number in many years. Alcids were noticeably absent, and a general feeling of there not being a lot of birds around after the extremely early cold weather this year put a damper on Christmas count expectations. Any lingering semi-hardy species probably were not able to "linger," given the extreme temperatures before winter even started. "Bah, humbug" sums it up nicely.

The window of opportunity to conduct a Christmas bird count, with the small army (in some cases) of observers, many traveling from elsewhere in New England to participate, is small; the counts are planned a full year in advance, which means that one does not have the luxury of waiting for good weather.

That brings up the difference in conducting a Christmas bird count in the early part of the count period as opposed to the end of it. The count period is long enough and generally cold enough so that the difference in ice cover on freshwater ponds and coastal estuaries, as well as general snow cover, is markedly different at the end of the period than it was at the beginning. Bird mortality is a reality and a big part of winter in this region.

The longer and colder it gets, the harder it is for overwintering birds, particularly land birds, to survive. Hence, counts run in the first week of the period in New England have an advantage over counts runs later in the period. The longest running counts generally have the choice of the first weekends, and this is surely an advantage in terms of total number of species seen.

The next bird count up on the schedule is the Mid-Cape Christmas bird count, which will be conducted on Friday and includes most of the Mid-Cape area. Last year this bird count had the highest total in New England, and with decent weather, it has a chance to reclaim its spot atop the best count in this part of the world. The Nantucket Christmas Bird Count will be conducted on Dec. 29 and the Martha's Vineyard Christmas Bird Count will be on Jan. 4.

I am wishing a merry Christmas and happy holidays to one and all. I hope you see a snowy owl for Christmas. Until next week — keep your eyes to the sky!

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E. Vernon Laux's birding column appears every Saturday in the Cape Cod Times. Laux is the resident naturalist for the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket. You can hear him on "Bird News" with Mindy Todd at 10 a.m. the first Saturday of the month on the Cape's NPR station, WCAI, 90.1, 91.1 and 94.3. You can also listen to his "Bird News Commentaries" on Wednesdays at 8:35 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. He can be reached at vlaux@llnf.org.